Page 57 of Alpha's Claim

“How can you eat at a time like this?” Lance asks him.

Axel shrugs.

“He always has snacks,” Canyon says. “Did you bring me any?”

“Nope.” Axel tips the bag upside down to pour the last crumbs into his mouth.

“Focus,” Matthias orders. I’m glad he’s with us. He’s one of the few people, other than our mother, who can keep Axel and the triplets in line.

I have bigger things to worry about.

I can feel him. My bear. He’s trying to explode out of my skin.

Not now,I tell him.

Mate.The bear shoves an image of me in bear form holding Paloma.Keep her safe.

I am.I grind my teeth, forcing my bear to surrender. The last thing I need right now is to lose control of the bear. I need my wits about me.

We’ve reached the corridor where Axel and Canyon took out a bunch of guards. Bodies lie everywhere. Blood smears the wall where they were thrown against the wall. Bloody paw prints lead up the stairs. Everest was here.

“Down this way,” Paloma tells us. She stands back and lets Rafe and Lance lead us down the first flight of stairs. “The largest safe room is on the subterranean level.”

With every step we take, the tension grows.

We reach a locked door with a black keypad and a sensor used for a fingerprint scan.

“Let me try.” Paloma steps up and puts her hand to it, but it flashes red.

“Plan B,” Rafe says. He punches the wall, ripping out the keypad entirely. Metal bars come down, but we rush to grab them. Everyone but Paloma joins in. It takes all our strength, but we bend the metal and make a hole so we can claw out the entire steel frame of the door.

The passageway beyond is dark, except for flashing orange lights.

“No use for stealth. They know we’re here,” Rafe shouts. He and Lance rush into the breach. Matthias and I are next, on either side of Paloma. Axel and Canyon bring up the rear.

We have Paloma in the middle to protect her. A shifter wall to take the brunt of an attack.

It’s a good thing we do because three seconds later, we run into more guards.

Paloma

Shots sound and someone roars in pain. In a flash, I’m pressed up to the wall, covered by Darius. I peer past his arm.

The helmet turns the hallway an eerie green. Golden shapes dart to and fro. Lance and Rafe crouch to return fire. The werebear brothers run forward to take out the shooters.

I happen to look back the way we came. “Look out,” I scream. Another wave of guards pours down the stairs.

Axel and Canyon turn back, and nets shoot out. They land on the younger werebears, the mesh glinting in the flashing lights. Canyon screams, writhing.

Darius cusses.

“Go.” I push at him. I wish I had a weapon, so I could help. Instead, I hunker down to create a smaller target, and Darius charges into the fray.

For a moment, there’s nothing but gunfire, screams and roars. I crawl on my hands and knees to the closest werebear–Axel. The net is unusually heavy, like a fishing net made of metal, but I manage to lift a corner up. He gasps, wriggling out from underneath it. Both of us crawl to free Canyon. He cries out as we drag the net off, and lies there, shuddering. The lights flash, revealing his bare torso. It’s crisscrossed with red lines, like he’s been burned.

“What happened?” I ask Axel.

“Silver,” he answers. His own face has red marks where the net landed on his bare skin. “The net is poison to shifters.”